Digital video streams are typically encoded using one of many different encoding standards. There are currently a large number of video encoding standards, and new standards are frequently emerging. Examples of current video encoding standards include JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group), MPEG-2, MPEG-3, MPEG-4, H.263, H.263+, H.264, and proprietary standards such as Real Video and Windows Media. In order to fully realize the benefits of digital video, a user requires access to encoder and/or decoder that are capable of processing all common encoding standards.
Currently, motion compensation in a video encoding/decoding process for each video standard requires different pipelines, so that a large chip area is occupied in order to achieve motion compensation for multiple video standards. However, chip area is limited, and what is needed is a motion compensation apparatus that is able to process different video standards and also meet chip area requirement.